Human networks - the ultimate source of resilience
Title
Human networks - the ultimate source of resilience
Subject
connections, community
Creator
Sarah K
Date
February 10, 2022
Contributor
ABCD Team
Text
I drafted this in the weeks following the January 22, 2022 Waldo County Climate Change Symposium, which brought together most of the local organizations taking action on climate change and its impacts. I am both moved and impressed by the people I've met through this project and their commitment to each other and the planet!
I’ve been struck recently by the somewhat obvious in hindsight observation that the strength of our human networks are the source of our resilience. In the January 20 Growing Resilience: Local Farmers Respond to Climate Change event (https://bit.ly/BelfastFarmers), all three farmers on our panel voiced appreciation for their network of peers and elders in the farming community.
In the Waldo County Climate Change Symposium: Preparing for Tomorrow - Our Climate Future (https://bit.ly/WaldoCoClimateSym), Waldo County Bounty shared their origin story. At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, this group recognized that local people were experiencing or were at risk of experiencing food insecurity. They also recognized that the market for local farmers had been totally disrupted. These community leaders found ways to connect the farmers and food without markets to local hungry people to solve two problems at once. This is a tangible example of how human networks - people who know people and know what they need - identify and deliver solutions.
Sure, we also need a robust power grid and strong critical infrastructure like sewage treatment plants supported by backup systems - things that the government needs to address.
But when challenge arrives - a downed tree, a flooded basement, temporary or permanent loss of income - what is essential for human wellbeing is a web of human beings ready to give and receive, to offer support, a meal, an ear.
I’m inspired by what I’ve heard. I’m resolving to do better at this myself - to reach out more, to get to know my neighbors better, to build my web of human connection.
I’ve been struck recently by the somewhat obvious in hindsight observation that the strength of our human networks are the source of our resilience. In the January 20 Growing Resilience: Local Farmers Respond to Climate Change event (https://bit.ly/BelfastFarmers), all three farmers on our panel voiced appreciation for their network of peers and elders in the farming community.
In the Waldo County Climate Change Symposium: Preparing for Tomorrow - Our Climate Future (https://bit.ly/WaldoCoClimateSym), Waldo County Bounty shared their origin story. At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, this group recognized that local people were experiencing or were at risk of experiencing food insecurity. They also recognized that the market for local farmers had been totally disrupted. These community leaders found ways to connect the farmers and food without markets to local hungry people to solve two problems at once. This is a tangible example of how human networks - people who know people and know what they need - identify and deliver solutions.
Sure, we also need a robust power grid and strong critical infrastructure like sewage treatment plants supported by backup systems - things that the government needs to address.
But when challenge arrives - a downed tree, a flooded basement, temporary or permanent loss of income - what is essential for human wellbeing is a web of human beings ready to give and receive, to offer support, a meal, an ear.
I’m inspired by what I’ve heard. I’m resolving to do better at this myself - to reach out more, to get to know my neighbors better, to build my web of human connection.
Collection
Citation
Sarah K, “Human networks - the ultimate source of resilience,” All of Belfast: Climate Dialogues, accessed April 26, 2024, https://abcdbelfast.omeka.net/items/show/90.
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